Local group "50 Legs" helps Boston Marathon bombing victims

Steve Chamberland and Army veteran Tanner Kuth with the group 50 Legs just returned from a trip to Chamberland's native Boston, where they visited with Boston Marathon bombing patients and their families.

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Tampa, Florida -- The nonprofit that's been helping two-year-old Ireland Nugent since she lost part of her legs in a lawnmower accident is also supporting people who lost limbs in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Steve Chamberland and Army veteran Tanner Kuth with the group 50 Legs just returned from a trip to Chamberland's native Boston, where they visited with patients and their families.

"We just want to let them know there's life after being an amputee," says Chamberland, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. "Life's not over. It's just another stepping stone. It's a new chapter in your life."

Not only are Chamberland and Kuth helping people cope with lost limbs, they're also helping to shape the lives of patients like Celeste Corcoran, a woman who lost both legs below the knees in the Boston Marathon blasts. They say they'll be bringing her to Orlando to get prosthetic limbs, as well as helping to make the stay enjoyable for her family.

"For [Celeste] to say, 'Hey, we just met, I want you to come back tomorrow,' that meant a lot," says Kuth, who lost his leg in an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

Chamberland adds, "When we walked in yesterday, she joked, 'Here's my boyfriend, just don't tell my husband.' We were just laughing, thinking 'this is so cool.'"

In the last week, Chamberland says he's been contacted by nearly 100 people in need of help. That demand is why 50 Legs is holding a golf tournament on Saturday, with all the proceeds going toward the organization's efforts to get people prosthetic legs. It's being held at Tarpon Woods Golf Club. You can sign up and find out more information here. 50 Legs is also selling T-shirts.

For Kuth, traveling to Boston and visiting with patients was a way to pay it forward since he says so many people have stepped forward to make his life better, from the Military Warrior Support Foundation getting him a house, to Disabled Sports USA taking him snowboarding.

"This is all stuff that comes from the American people that are coming together and helping me move on with my life and do good things," he says. "It makes me want to give back even more. Just because I retired from the Army, I feel like my service isn't over. I want to give back to my community."